I found the start to be slow and the narrative bogged down by excessive details at time, but overall the book kept me engaged enough to read through almost 600 pages in a few days. So definitely, this is probably perfect for someone looking for that cast of millions epic story, but was a bit heavy for my current mood.The audio narration was spectacularly performed by Simon Vance. Millions of people lose their lives and life goes on. Heroes are created and sacrifice love and family to save an empire. Yes, it was an intriguing story of all the intrigue and corruption behind the Tang Empire, and the characters were fascinating, but in the end, it was the story with a plot line similar to so many other tragic stories in fiction and fact.
There has been a lot of tragedy, death, and suffering in China's recent history, so I wanted a book about China, but more during the might and glory of the Empire. And although the history of modern China is fascinating, it's a bit depressing. I picked this because I had been reading books about modern China to prepare for a visit to the country. This was historic fiction with a touch of fantasy. Kay has the ability to make the quiet moments profound and make the big moments deeply personal. As with all Guy Gavriel Kay books, I was riveted the entire time, even if it wasn't an action-packed moment. This sets into motion events that will change the whole world. This man, Shen Tai, has his world changed when he is gifted 250 exquisite horses from the Princess of the rival nation as a thank you gift. This battlefield is famously haunted, and therefore strongly avoided by both nations who battled many years ago, but who now share a peace treaty. He does not distinguish sides, but tries to bury any dead he comes across. One man's life changes drastically with one seemingly small decision to devote two years of his life to burying the dead at the site of a battle. With this book, his inspiration was the T'ang Dynasty from China circa 700 CE.
And by that I mean he changes names so as not to write about anything real, but basically takes whole swathes of cultures from the past and writes novels about these new creations that have small elements of fantasy, but are otherwise political, familial, or revolutionary dramas. He writes fantasy-lite novels inspired by history and culture. Guy Gavriel Kay writes historical fantasy.
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